Online Articles

From 26th to 28th of February 2008 the annual conference of the GIS networking association Runder Tisch GIS e.V. took place at the Munich University of Technology. Around 350 visitors from Switzerland, Austria and Germany gathered in Munich to compare notes about the future paths of the geospatial sector. This year’s focus was on the emerging European Spatial Data Infrastructures and how to make their concepts and ideas alive. This article will present some highlights of the conference.

One of the largest standardized vector based data sets in the world is based on S-57 and yet the standard is not well know, let alone used outside the hydrographic community. Time to introduce this proven standard in more detail.

The successful operation of DigitalGlobe WorldView-1 has created a new milestone for high resolution satellites. The high resolution sensor and the improvement to the onboard equipment have advanced mapping using high resolution images even without the need for ground control points.

The introduction of digital cameras has led to enormous (online) collections of digital images. The European Tripod project aims to introduce new tools on automated labelling of these images. A Dutch partner, Geodan, wanted to know if GIS could be used for recognizing objects and label images. Dutch Geomatics student Arnoud de Boer took the challenge and came with promising results for the future of digital imaging and GPS.

Modeling all the individual entities in a spatial system is like building the system from its atoms. Multi-agent simulation offers many advantages for the exploration of social processes and gives researchers intuitive access to modeling. Although explicit spatial simulations are rare, spatial relationships often play an important role when considering processes within systems.

Safe Software is the maker of FME, a powerful spatial ETL (extract, transform and load) platform that enables organizations to seamlessly extract, translate, transform, integrate and distribute spatial data in over 200 GIS, CAD, raster and database formats. FME is used globally by thousands of customers in a wide variety of industries, including all levels of government, the utilities sector, and resource industries such as oil and gas, mining and forestry. In this month’s interview, we discuss the most important spatial ETL topics with Safe Software co-founders Dale Lutz (left) and Don Murray.

This review will focus on the GeoXH since this is the most recent and technologically most advanced version available from Trimble. Where applicable, references to the difference between the GeoXT and GeoXH are made. Together with the GeoXH, one GeoBeacon code phase beacon correction receiver was available. Part of this review will focus on the differences using the various differential techniques available with the GeoXH (SBAS, GeoBeacon and H-Star post processing).

Whether you hate or love the concept of GML, the technology is here to stay. As more and more GML datasets are being introduced – specifically across Europe – GIS professionals are having to learn the benefits of this new standard. GML 1.0 was introduced in May 2000 as a new format to express geographic information. Now on revision level 3.1 and a formal ISO standard (ISO 19136:2007), GML is fast becoming the de facto method of sharing and transporting descriptions of objects in the world around us.

In the last quarter of 2007 a grand total of eight navigation satellites were launched: two GPS satellites and six Glonass satellites. With the exception of GPS, which is still being plagued by budget cutbacks and moving deadlines, all GNSS systems seem to be on track towards their (re)scheduled deadlines.